World

April 02, 2009

Hours after India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh suggested
that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) offer up to $500 billion to
developing countries, the Group of 20 (G20) summit announced twice that much
funding to the commercial lending arm of the World Bank.

The commitment of $1.1 trillion in additional loans and
guarantees to finance trade and bail out troubled countries announced by Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown, is a remarkable
example of how the world can come together at a time when it is confronted with
a defining crisis. From what I have read of the G20 coverage I thought Dr. Singh
was the only one who made very specific and targeted suggestions about what
should be done in the manner of an effective economist that he is. Perhaps I am
overdoing by crediting the Indian prime minister with lending a definable and tangible
dimension to the summit. But it certainly seems that way.

It is unlikely though that anyone would be scrambling to
applaud the usually low-key Dr. Singh, who still comes across as the
bureaucrat-in-chief rather than the leader of the world’s most vibrant and
largest democracy.